Fourth Circuit Strikes Down South Carolina Absentee Voting Law

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that South Carolina's absentee voting law is unconstitutional because it limits no-excuse mail-in ballots to residents aged 65 and older. In a unanimous decision, the court found that the law abridges the right to vote based on age, which violates the 26th Amendment.

Judge Roger Gregory, who authored the opinion, stated that the current system makes voting harder for citizens under 65 than for those 65 and older. He wrote that when a state provides a method for casting a ballot, the Constitution forbids restricting access to that method based on prohibited grounds, including age.

The panel has deferred the remedy to the district court. The lower court must now determine whether to extend no-excuse absentee voting to all eligible voters or remove the privilege for seniors entirely. This ruling diverges from previous decisions by other appeals courts, such as the Fifth Circuit, which upheld similar age-based voting regulations in Texas.